# How often do you rehydrate your beads?



## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Currently I rehydrate my beads every 2 weeks or so. I soak them all completely and even have a bit of extra water. From what I heard, my beads shouldn't be drying up that fast.

I've heard from several people they only re-hydrate their beads every couple months. And they just rehydrate 90% of the beads so they are clear and 10% still white.

This has me thinking my humidor is having trouble holding humidity.

I tried the dollar bill test and the seal is tight. I haven't tried the flash light test yet because I don't have a small enough flash light!

One thing I have noticed is that the inside walls of the humidor do not meet in the corners fully. There is a bit of a gap at the corners. Not sure if this could be causing humidity to leak or not. And if that's not the problem I'm not sure what is, other than maybe improperly seasoned, though I spent about a week seasoning it using a small dish and a sponge soaked in distilled water.

This is the humidor I have: 300 Cigar Dome Humidor: Cheap Humidors Cigar Humidor Cigar Accessories CheapHumidors.com

Interested in hearing from others about how often they rehydrate their beads.


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## Ducrider (Feb 4, 2010)

I'm not a bead expert by any means, but switched over a few months ago from using an Oasis. I don't think you are supposed to completely soak them. I have a little spray bottle I use probably once a week or so and I gently spray until about half are clear. I'm in my humi every day, so they seem to need it about that often. I respray once they look mostly white.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

I spritz mine until they are 75% wet/clear. Conditions are different for everyone as far as where they live, environmental conditions in the home, etc. I average once a month and my house is always 75degrees and RH is 67.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Never, never, NEVER saturate your beads completely! Never, never, NEVER have excess water run off them.

Beads are regulated by salts, covalently bound to silica gel. Once these salts are rinsed off, the gel goes back to it's native state, which is too low for cigar storage.

I spritz my beads 50% clear once a month in all five humidors.

Passive charging is best, but takes tremendous patience. To do this, put your beads container in a ziplock or tupperware with a saturated sponge for a day or two.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Honestly it can never be said enough times. Never saturate, rinse, dip, snorkel, pour DW on your beads. Spritzing is about as crazy as I get but I'm liking the idea of what you said Don....passively charging the beads with a wet sponge in a container. Gonna start doing that...learn something new everyday on here. Don, do you ever get tired of being so damn smart? lol


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Herf N Turf said:


> Never, never, NEVER saturate your beads completely! Never, never, NEVER have excess water run off them.
> 
> Beads are regulated by salts, covalently bound to silica gel. Once these salts are rinsed off, the gel goes back to it's native state, which is too low for cigar storage.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Do you think these beads are permanently damaged from over saturating them?

Also would it be possible to passively charge the beads by placing the saturated sponge in the humidor when they start to turn white?

I do have more beads than necessary. I calculated the amount of beads needed based on the humidor's external dimensions, then realized I needed to do the internal dimensions which needed about half of what I had.

The odd thing is when my beads turn white, the humidity doesn't drop down below 70% really. Which also makes me concerned that maybe my hygrometer is off as well.

I really need to get a digital hygrometer but don't got the money. Been looking at this one:

HygroSet Digital Hygrometer: Cheap Humidors Cigar Humidor Cigar Accessories CheapHumidors.com


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Cory,
It's all about how they hold humidity. Given your method, there's a good chance they're damaged, but like I said, if they hold rH, then you might be ok.

I would not recommend placing any free water in your humidor. The wood and tobacco will absorb water at least as fast, if not faster than the beads. Just charge the beads.

That hygro is as good as anything else in its price range.


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Herf N Turf said:


> Cory,
> It's all about how they hold humidity. Given your method, there's a good chance they're damaged, but like I said, if they hold rH, then you might be ok.
> 
> I would not recommend placing any free water in your humidor. The wood and tobacco will absorb water at least as fast, if not faster than the beads. Just charge the beads.
> ...


Thanks again Don.

I may get some tupperware containers to hold my cigars while I try to re-season the humidor. I got about 50 cigars in there.

What would you say is the fastest and most efficient way to re-season a humidor? I'm told wiping it with a wet (not soaked) sponge and then saturating the sponge and placing it inside the humidor is fine. Though I've also heard others say don't wipe the humidor.

:beerchug:


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Heres how the corners look in the humidor.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Nickerson said:


> Heres how the corners look in the humidor.


That's not a gap, it's a canyon.

That just makes me angry. Send it back.


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

Nickerson said:


> Heres how the corners look in the humidor.


Send it back if it is under warranty. If it's out of....with a little handy work and some patience (which all cigar smokers should have anyway) you can fill the gaps with some cedar used from some boxes you get. If you don't have any, go down to your local cigar joint and ask if they have one you could get. GL....


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Herf N Turf said:


> That's not a gap, it's a canyon.
> 
> That just makes me angry. Send it back.


I think it may have had a 1 year warranty... though IDK where I would have placed it or how I would use it. I bought it last July or August.


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## bbrodnax (Apr 24, 2010)

I do the same as Russ. I keep a spray bottle handy and spray bead tubes once every 10-12 days. Dead on 70% at all times.


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## veteranvmb (Aug 6, 2009)

I check each humi, once in morning and once at night. They stay pretty much from 69-71. When I notice a humidor starting to drop humidity, and it goes down to about 67, I give the beads a spray or two, and in a day or two, its back to 70. Perhaps every 3 weeks or so. 

Jerry


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## Habanolover (Feb 22, 2006)

This is one of the advantages of using coolers. I usually recharge the beads in my humidor once every month. With the coolers I recharge about once every 4 months.

From looking at the pics I would say your humidor is the culprit here.


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## CheapHumidors (Aug 30, 2007)

Nickerson said:


> I think it may have had a 1 year warranty... though IDK where I would have placed it or how I would use it. I bought it last July or August.


Damn. I was really hoping you'd bought it from us so we could just replace it... that's DEFINITELY not what that's supposed to look like. That would never have even made it into our imperfect bin.

Any of the guys on here got woodworking tips for him? Hopefully that plus not oversaturating your beads will fix the RH issues that you've been telling me about.


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

I think I may just buy a new one from CI and return my old one in its place for a refund. Will lose the $ for return shipping costs but its worth it I think.


Interesting review on the humidor from CI.

"I have had this (Treasure Dome Humidor) for about a month now. It holds the humidity fairly well despite a 1/8th inch gap on the inside where 2 pieces of cedar are supposed to meet at a corner. Like many things we purchase these days, this was made in China. Even so, the burlwood veneer finish is spectacular. It was well packed in a box within a box. No worries for shipping. I plan to seal the interior gap - how I am not yet sure. It comes with dividers that allow you to set up compartments for different sized cigars both top and bottom (only one divider for the top 3 for the bottom). The hygrometer is cheap and is too small for the 2 1/4 inch opening in the lid (would look odd if I actually mounted it). However it is fairly accurate compared against a digital."


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